We face a period where the main challenge does not come from the ideological confrontation between capitalism and communism, but from the internal erosion of the liberal model. The Western world, the cradle of democracy and liberalism, is at a crossroads. We debate our own nature and future in a context in which the certainties of the past no longer offer answers to current problems. The crisis of liberalism is not limited to the economy; It affects the very foundations of democracy and individual freedoms.
The contemporary threat is not personified by a specific ideological rival, but by the growing attraction to authoritarian models that promise stability and order at the expense of citizen participation and individual freedom. Autocracy, restrictions on democratic participation, limitations on access to public services and the concentration of power emerge as alternatives in times of uncertainty.
The West must reaffirm its commitment to the values it has promoted and defended, recognizing the internal flaws of liberalism. The inequality to which the decisions of thirty years ago led us is unsustainable and unacceptable. The Western response must focus on the democratic well-being of citizens and the creation of opportunities for economic and personal growth. The opposite implies the possible reception of authoritarianism, and its leaders, as a pseudo-democratic offer to, supposedly, reduce economic deprivation.